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Origin and history

Saint Peter's Church of La Chapelle-Bâton is a Catholic building located in the department of Vienna, New Aquitaine. Built mainly in the 15th and 16th centuries, it is distinguished by its simple, unique nave plan, typical of the rural churches of the period. Its atypical orientation, with an entrance to the south instead of the west, is explained by the need to steer the choir eastward towards Jerusalem. The western facade, blind and reinforced by massive foothills, as well as a tower of stairs to the north, testify to its defensive and functional architecture.

Originally, the church had a central wooden bell tower, replaced in 1979 by a smaller arcade bell tower. Its southern portal, decorated with flamboyant mouldings and a vegetal archvolt, as well as its trilobed-up bays, illustrate the late Gothic style. Inside, the quadripartite dogid vaults fall on committed columns, while carved capitals, such as those representing dragons faced or a griffon wounding a character, evoke regional artistic influences, comparable to those of St. Peter's Church in Chauvigny.

The church's murals, dated from the 15th and 16th century hinge, constitute a major heritage element. Among them, a representation of the martyrdom of Saint Blaise, classified as historical monuments in 1913, is detached. Other scenes, now hidden under a bandage applied in 1865, once portrayed episodes related to St.Madeleine, St. Michael and St. Peter, covering the entire nave. These frescoes, although partially erased, underline the religious and cultural importance of the building.

The church was listed as historical monuments in 1993, recognizing its architectural and artistic value. Its history is also linked to the archiprired of Gençay, on which La Chapelle-Bâton depended from the end of the 14th century. The building, owned by the commune, reflects local constructive traditions and successive adaptations, such as the piercing of bays in the 19th century on the wall of the north gouteau, initially blind.

Today, St Peter's Church remains a testimony to the religious and artistic practices of the Poitevin countryside at the end of the Middle Ages. Its state of conservation, marked by damaged elements such as the southern gate, calls for restoration work to preserve this fragile heritage. The available sources, from Wikipedia, Monumentum and the Merimée bases, confirm its anchoring in regional history and its role in the religious landscape of Vienna.

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